Barbara Bush Canceled Her New York Times Subscription

Former First Lady Barbara Bush has apparently given up her subscription to the New York Times. Bush discussed cancelling the newspaper in an interview on Fox News Wednesday when she was asked about a column published by Maureen Dowd Saturday that described the Clintons and the Bush family as political dynasties with a “death grip on the American electoral system.”

“Did you read about the man who died and his obituary … said, ‘Don’t send flowers, don’t send donations to anything, cancel your New York Times subscription.’ So I did,” she said.

Bush did not identify exactly when she ended her subscription to the paper, but an obituary for a man named Leonard Smith published in the Greenwich Time newspaper Jan. 26 made national headlines because it encouraged mourners to drop the Times.

“He will be greatly missed by those he loved and those who loved him. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you cancel your subscription to The New York Times,” the obituary said.